Photo by: Sarah Snyder
NCAA Announces Allocations, Final Coaches’ Ranking & RPI
Feb 26 | Wrestling
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee has announced the pre- allocation spots for the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships as listed in the chart below. The Big Ten Conference once again leads the country with 87 automatic bids to the national tournament.
Each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through February 23. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards, win percentage, coaches' rank, and RPI ranking; while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches' ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his conference tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each conference is awarded a minimum of one automatic qualification per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish.
After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 42 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 10, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on March 11. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
The coaches' rankings are determined by a vote of three coaches in each weight class. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one match within the last 30 days.
All 10 postseason starters for Rutgers appear in the final coaches' ranking, including seven within the top 20.
Rutgers in the Third NCAA Coaches Ranking (2/26/2026)
125: No. 23 Ayden Smith
133: No. 30 Dylan Shawver
141: No. 7 Joseph Olivieri
149: No. 26 Andrew Clark
157: No. 15 Anthony White
165: No. 20 Andrew Barbosa
174: No. 20 Lenny Pinto
184: No. 13 Shane Cartagena-Walsh
197: No. 15 Remy Cotton
HWT: No. 20 Hunter Catka
The RPI is a calculation that consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent's opponent winning percentage (opponent's strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked. No forfeit of any kind counts toward the match minimum.
All 10 starters for the Scarlet Knights also own an RPI heading into the postseason.
Rutgers in the Second RPI (2/26/2026)
125: No. 18 Ayden Smith
133: No. 19 Dylan Shawver
141: No. 28 Joseph Olivieri
149: No. 28 Andrew Clark
157: No. 22 Anthony White
165: No. 11 Andrew Barbosa
174: No. 23 Lenny Pinto
184: No. 18 Shane Cartagena-Walsh
197: No. 10 Remy Cotton
HWT: No. 24 Hunter Catka
The coaches' ranking and RPI are two of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.
A full description of the entire selection process for the 2026 Division I Wrestling Championships is available at ncaa.org.
The 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships takes place March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, marking the third time the city will host.
Each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through February 23. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards, win percentage, coaches' rank, and RPI ranking; while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches' ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his conference tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each conference is awarded a minimum of one automatic qualification per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish.
After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 42 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 10, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on March 11. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
| Conference | 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285 | Total |
| ACC | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 39 |
| Big 12 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 63 |
| Big Ten | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 87 |
| EIWA | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 26 |
| Ivy League | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 23 |
| MAC | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 27 |
| PAC-12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| Southern Conference | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Pre-Allocations | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 288 |
| At-Large | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 42 |
The coaches' rankings are determined by a vote of three coaches in each weight class. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one match within the last 30 days.
All 10 postseason starters for Rutgers appear in the final coaches' ranking, including seven within the top 20.
Rutgers in the Third NCAA Coaches Ranking (2/26/2026)
125: No. 23 Ayden Smith
133: No. 30 Dylan Shawver
141: No. 7 Joseph Olivieri
149: No. 26 Andrew Clark
157: No. 15 Anthony White
165: No. 20 Andrew Barbosa
174: No. 20 Lenny Pinto
184: No. 13 Shane Cartagena-Walsh
197: No. 15 Remy Cotton
HWT: No. 20 Hunter Catka
The RPI is a calculation that consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent's opponent winning percentage (opponent's strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked. No forfeit of any kind counts toward the match minimum.
All 10 starters for the Scarlet Knights also own an RPI heading into the postseason.
Rutgers in the Second RPI (2/26/2026)
125: No. 18 Ayden Smith
133: No. 19 Dylan Shawver
141: No. 28 Joseph Olivieri
149: No. 28 Andrew Clark
157: No. 22 Anthony White
165: No. 11 Andrew Barbosa
174: No. 23 Lenny Pinto
184: No. 18 Shane Cartagena-Walsh
197: No. 10 Remy Cotton
HWT: No. 24 Hunter Catka
The coaches' ranking and RPI are two of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.
A full description of the entire selection process for the 2026 Division I Wrestling Championships is available at ncaa.org.
The 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships takes place March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, marking the third time the city will host.
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